


that they may see your good works

by thesaddestboner



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Bible Study, M/M, Not Beta Read, Oakland Athletics, Religious Imagery & Symbolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-06
Updated: 2013-12-06
Packaged: 2018-01-03 16:16:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1072555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesaddestboner/pseuds/thesaddestboner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Huston's the one who starts organizing Oakland A's bible meetings prior to games.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	that they may see your good works

**Author's Note:**

> Vintage A's! This was going to be my big Street/Harden epic, but I lost steam quickly. I kind of liked the idea of Rich being sort of rough and Huston being sweet and gentle, and whatnot, but I lost interest.
> 
> Title from Matthew 5:16 (King James version).
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/thesaddestboner) and [tumblr](http://saddestboner.tumblr.com).

Huston's the one who starts organizing Oakland A's bible meetings prior to games. He's still kind of amazed that no one has yet, considering Chavez, the team's star, is devout. Bradford even has a quote from Ecclesiastes taped up in his locker. He doesn't know about the others, they haven't exactly advertised it, but he figures they're there. They're just waiting for someone to lead them.

Huston is the kind of kid who was raised with a copy of the Holy Bible in one hand and a baseball in the other; it's the kind of thing that's been bred in him since he could crawl. He's never spent a day in his life without one or the other or, at least, a day in his life that he can recall.

Huston makes fliers on his laptop, prints them out on goldenrod paper and tapes them up in front of every locker. Watches his teammates to see who looks interested and who doesn't. Zito crumples his flier up right away and tosses it into the trash can without even glancing once at it, and a penny clinks at the bottom of the piggy bank in Huston's mind.

Harden turns it over in his hands, his pale, never-seen-the-sun hands. "You're starting up a bible meeting?"

"I think it would be a worthwhile team bonding experience," Huston says, watching Harden turn the flier over, ticking his neatly clipped fingernail over the bold black lettering.

Harden laughs. "We have initiation for that, rook," he teases, handing the flier back to Huston, mouth twisted into a little smirk.

Huston folds the flier into halves and then quarters, and tucks it between the pages of his Bible, slipping it into the crook of his elbow, the elbow of his pitching arm. "I'd really hope you reconsider," he says. "I think you might enjoy yourself."

Harden laughs then, a short, high-pitched, sweet sounding little bark of laughter that catches Huston off guard. "Enjoy myself?"

"The Bible isn't all fire and brimstone," Huston says, his voice low, "Rich." He pauses for effect. "It's also love and redemption -- God's love. God's love for all His children." Huston drums his fingertips on the front of his Bible, over his name etched on the leather cover in gold leaf. 'A special Bible for a special young man,' his mom had said, when she presented it to him for his confirmation in the church.

"Well, reading the Bible isn't exactly my idea of fun," Harden says, still smirking.

"Just give it a chance, Rich." Huston holds his Bible in front of his heart, fingers wrapped tight around it, and Harden still has his mouth twisted into strange Mona Lisa smile.

Harden leans forward ever so slightly, and Huston leans back. "Do you think I'm going to take it from you?"

"Take what?" Huston asks, blinking.

"Your bible," Harden says, rolling his eyes.

"Oh," Huston says, "I thought you meant something else."

\--

Huston sets up a small round table in the middle of the press room and drags in some folding chairs. He doesn't know how many of his teammates will be showing up for the Bible study, so he puts up six chairs just to be sure.

He sits down and waits.

Twelve o'clock comes and goes, and no one arrives, so Huston shuts his Bible with his bookmark at that passage in Ecclesiastes that Bradford's also fond of, and begins to fold up the metal chairs, Bible tucked against his elbow and his hip.

There's a soft knock on the door and Huston looks up. "Yes?"

The door opens and Harden peeks in. "Am I late?" He pushes the door open all the way and steps in. His brown hair is parted down the side and he's wearing a tan Polo shirt and khakis, and has a paperback Bible clutched in his right hand, looking very much the Catholic schoolboy Huston actually is.

Harden's Bible has a glossy cover and the price tag is still on the front, and Huston wonders who would stop to pick up a BIble on the way to a BIble study.

"Well, no one showed up, so I figured no one was going to come," Huston says, gesturing to the table with his Bible. "We can still do it if you want."

Harden pulls up a chair and sets his Bible on the table, opening it to Genesis. Callused fingers that are used to reading the raised red stitches of a baseball are reading the first book of the Bible, Harden is skimming his hard fingertips over the letters, like he's reading braille. "I would have thought Chavvy and Bradford'd be all over this," Harden says, skimming the pages with his fingertips, thumbing through his brand new Bible.

"Bradford and Jenny were going out to pick up some furniture and Chavvy wanted to get some rest before practice," Huston explains, shrugging guilelessly, turning to the passage he'd marked off with a bookmark with John 3:3 printed on it in embossed gold lettering.

"What'll we be reading?" Harden asks.

"I was thinking we might read Ecclesiastes today," Huston says, thumbing to the right page. "That's where the quote in Bradford's locker comes from."

"I know," says Harden, with a little smirk. "It says Ecclesiastes 9:11 right on it."

"Oh, of course." Huston flushes just a little bit, and he looks down at the Bible in his hands, all the words jumbling and swirling together into a mess of black and white. When he looks up, Harden's still smirking at him. "What?"

"Nothing." Harden looks down at his own Bible and runs his fingertips over the gilt lettering. "I picked this up at Border's on my way here," he admits, as if Huston's his confessor. He glances back at Huston and a self-conscious smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "I stood in front of the door debating whether or not to go in for, like, ten minutes."

"Why?" Huston asks.

Harden shrugs and sits back in his seat, splaying out his legs and crossing his arms behind his head. "I'm not that religious, not anymore. Grew up Catholic, but I kind of just . . . lost touch with it. It wasn't for me."

"You can find your way back to God. He still loves you, even if you've gotten lost along the way," Huston says breathlessly, the air all squeezed out of his lungs by unseen hands. "I can help you."

Harden raises an eyebrow at Huston and rests an arm on the table, drums his fingertips. "I _like_ the path I've chosen, kid."

" 'm not a kid, Richie," Huston says, with an indignant huff. He gets up and grabs his Bible, and Harden reaches out, putting his hand over Huston's wrist. He can feel the calluses on Harden's fingertips over his pulse.

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you. You don't have to storm off in a pissy huff on account'a anything I said," Harden smirks, getting up out of his seat, hand still on Huston's wrist. "We can storm out together in matching pissy huffs."

Huston can't help but smile back in an attempt to match Harden's. "I'm not offended, Richie."

Harden cocks his head and drops his hand to his side, rubbing his knuckles against his thigh. "Okay, just making sure." Harden picks up his Bible and flips through the stiff pages. "Guess we should pick this up later, eh?"

Huston smiles. "Sure. I'd like that a lot, Richie."

Harden gets up to leave and pauses in front of the door, turning and cocking a smile Huston's way. "You're lucky I like you, kid, or else I'd have to beat you up for calling me Richie." 

Huston blushes, and watches after Harden's retreating form.

*

The next week, Bible study is still just Huston and Harden, but he doesn't mind.

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


End file.
